Swift wins groping case and $1 damages
Taylor Swift won $1 and long-awaited vindication last night after a jury decided that a radio DJ had groped her during a pre-concert photo opportunity four years ago. After a week-long trial, jurors found Mueller assaulted the pop star by grabbing her bottom during a backstage meet-andgreet. The eight-member jury rejected claims by Mueller that Swift’s mother and a member of her circle cost him his job with false groping accusations.
TAYLOR SWIFT won her case against a DJ she accused of groping her last night, after her lawyer had said she was taking the action on behalf of all women.
The pop star won a symbolic $1 and long-awaited vindication after the jury decided that David Mueller had assaulted her during a pre-concert photo opportunity four years ago.
The six-woman, two-man jury, which deliberated for less than a day following the week-long trial, also rejected Mueller’s claims that the singer’s team got him fired from his “dream job” at his radio station by making false groping accusations.
He sued Swift for $3 million (£2.3 million) in lost earnings. She counter-sued for the symbolic sum of $1, saying she was doing so on behalf of other victims.
From the start, Swift’s side portrayed the encounter as a clear case of sexual assault, even though they never reported it to police. Her mother tearfully testified that, after the incident, she asked their radio handler, Frank Bell, to contact Mueller’s employers at country station KYGO-FM instead because they wanted to handle the matter quietly and avoid exposing the singersongwriter to publicity.
Swift broke down in court yesterday during closing arguments. Douglas Baldridge, representing the singer, said that the trial was intended to send a message that “no means no”.
Swift, 27, said that Mueller, a Colorado radio host, grabbed her bottom while posing for a photo at a meet-and-greet in Denver in 2013, before her show.
Swift took the stand for about an hour last week, testifying that Mueller grabbed her bare backside and held on for a long time during the meet-andgreet. “He stayed attached to my bare ass cheek as I lurched away from him,” she said, later adding: “It was a definite grab. A very long grab.”
Yesterday Mr Baldridge characterised the former DJ as an “aggressor”. “Will aggressors like David Mueller be allowed to victimise their victims?” he asked. He called on the jurors to “return a verdict for a single dollar, a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation”. Gabriel Mcfarland, Mueller’s lawyer, earlier questioned whether the pop star’s smiling face in a photo she appeared in with Mueller was the face of someone who was upset – remarks that visibly distressed the singer, who had to be comforted by her mother.
The photo shows Mueller with his right hand behind the singer, just below her waist. It is unclear whether he is touching her. Both are smiling.
Mr Mcfarland said his client “is not the guy” who groped Swift.
She called the encounter with Mueller “despicable”.